


Digital Soul

by John_Malfoy



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), 魔法少女サイト | Mahou Shoujo Site | Magic Girl Site (Manga)
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Malfoy/pseuds/John_Malfoy
Summary: Where desire to save your loved ones can lead to? In search of the power Asagiri Aya has collected copies of herself from different worlds and realities. How far a simple desire to protect will take her?
Kudos: 3





	Digital Soul

She didn't know how many times this had happened.  
  
How many times does she come to the gym to recreate what she has done dozens... hundreds of times?  
  
The girls, her dearest friends, she was so used to them, fought surrendering the battle completely and all in order to be free from the Tempest. To get rid of the Administrators. Free themselves from what they were made to do.  
  
No matter what were the conditions. What help there was from the outside. They couldn't cope. And Asagiri Aya made the one and only correct decision, in her view.  
  
She wanted to protect her loved ones, wanted to save them from oppression, and so she made this decision.  
  
She will find the power to help her. Help them. She will find it where there no one would.  
  
She will find this power in herself. Anyone who listened to her would have just laughed. But she wouldn’t pay any more attention to it. Because she won't tell anyone about her plan. Until that one moment of revealing the truth comes.  
  
Aya stood in the middle of the gym, illuminated only by the moonlight coming through the large windows above. She will pinch off from herself again. Part of her power. A piece of her personality.  
  
Closing her eyes, she turned inward.  
  
_Please. Let me do it again.  
Please._  
**_Please._**  
_How many times this has happened?_  
Please.  
_Once again, please._  
  
A flash of warm light illuminated the dark room, but Aya felt a chill deep inside. But she was no longer alone.  
  
When she opened her eyes, she saw a copy of herself standing in front of her. Completely identical to her. Another _Aya_ looked at her sadly, knowing perfectly well why she was created. They had shared the same mind, the same body, the same feelings and emotions.  
One soul for two. But _Aya_ had a completely different mission.  
  
She will go to another, random world, where she will be reunited with herself. In which she lives all her life, preserving the current identity of _Asagiri Aya_ , but being essentially Aya.  
  
After living for a certain period of time, and maybe all her life, she will return at the first request of Aya and transfer all her knowledge, and maybe strength.  
  
“Thank you”, Aya chilly wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as if from a cold wind that could not be here. “I pray for your luck”.  
  
“I'm sorry you have to try so hard for us,” _Aya_ said. “I'll do my best”.  
  
And no more words — she disappeared to appear only a moment later in another world. Not at all what she expected.  
  
…  
  
Bright sunlight hit her eyes, forcing her to hide behind her hand.  
  
_How many times this had happened?_  
  
A fresh breeze that Aya could not expect in Tokyo lately, ruffled her long and loose, black hair. She removed her hand from her eyes and stared at the surrounding reality in surprise.  
  
It couldn't be Tokyo. It could have been Japan, but she was quite sure that this was not her city. She was sure of this, if only simply because she could not remember the presence of a forest in a densely populated city.  
  
But most of all she was interested in something else.  
  
Sounds gradually began to seep into Aya’s ears. Aya heard the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves blowing in the wind, and many other sounds that she sometimes could not even identify.  
  
“What kind of world is this?” She whispered softly, as if afraid to disturb the quiet and peaceful calmness of the forest. As if expecting the illusion or mirage to disappear as soon as she speaks a little louder.  
  
She had nothing else to do, and she went in search. People, in the first place, or at least something that can tell her where was she ended up.  
  
The longer Aya walked through this forest, the more she liked it, and so much so that she did not expect to meet someone else.  
  
But the farther she went, the closer she heard the sound... strange, not fully understandable by her mind. Whistling like the wind, or... like something was moving in the air quite rapidly.  
  
Driven by her curiosity, Aya began to deliberately follow the sound. She didn't have long to go. Gradually and unhurriedly, taking the branch and going around the bushes, she was able to hear the words and was already able to hear the words... spoken by a thin female voice.  
  
Perhaps even... childish?  
  
But they had spoken in English. Aya was Japanese and none of the traveling to other worlds could not change that.  
  
“System call… System call… Generate… element… Form… … shape. Fly… … Discharge”.  
  
What does this mean? Aya wondered. But the interest was higher and therefore she leaned out of a huge tree, behind which she stood, and with surprise and strong rejection, she saw an arrow from the blazing light crashed into a cute, fluffy fox and pierced it through and nailed it to the tree.  
  
Having uttered a plaintive squeak, the poor thing, most likely, died instantly.  
  
There had stood a girl, younger than Aya, with long, light lilac hair, braided in two loose pigtails, hanging down on her back.  
  
She had some pretty interesting clothes that Aya only saw on cosplayers. Clothes are loose fit and a long skirt below the knees. At least that is how Aya has seen from behind. But it was too late as aya too loudly drew in air. The girl turned around, a second panic was reflected in her lilac eyes, and then…  
  
“DISCHARGE!”  
  
A red flame rushed towards her and cut off her life.  
  


2nd

  
“DISCHARGE!”  
  
A red flame escaped from a thin hand, and for a moment Aya even managed to see how transparent it was and…  
  


6th

  
… Aya managed to see the projectile flying at her. She frantically evading it and almost crashing into the very tree behind which she was just standing. It turned out to be not a clot of flame as she expected, based on her sparse knowledge in TV shows and anime.  
  
Contrary to expectations, it was an arrow, not very long, but still…  
  
**It hurts so much to get it in the head, huh?..**  
  
… It probably would hurt if this one got into her. That's why Aya decided to rely on her reflexes. Throughout her short, but not very pleasant life, she learned to rely on the reaction, because sometimes it not only saved her from trouble, but saved her life in general.  
  
“Wait!” Aya has stepped back a couple of steps, holding her hands in front of. “I don't want to hurt you…”  
  
“DISCHARGE!”  
  


15th

  
“I just want to talk; I really didn't want to spy on you!”  
  
“DISCHARGE!”  
  


189th

  
**And now she seems to have to do it. Again.**  
  
The image flashed before Asagiri Aya’s eyes, standing behind a wide tree and looking anxiously at the girl, without a twinge of conscience, killed a fluffy little fox.  
  
This arrow may well kill me, so approaching it can be dangerous, a short and very reasonable thought flashed through the dark-haired head. What am I supposed to do?  
  
This girl… Aya clearly understood that she was the key to everything. Why else was she so attracted to her? It was not sympathy, not pity… none of the emotions that could be felt in relation to a common person.  
  
But then what was that?  
  
**Desire to be killed again?  
Desire to be reunited?  
Desire to replace someone?  
Desire to live someone's life?  
Desire to gain strength?**  
  
Aya did not understand why does she came here and why she was secretly watching the girl.  
  
“What am I supposed to do?” she whispered barely audibly, unconsciously following the bird, which flew from tree to tree.  
  
As she turned her head back, fingers buried in her neck, the tips of which glowed with orange flame.  
  
Her breathing was hampered and her heartbeat quickened, but by part of her mind Aya knew that she should be more afraid. It is worth experiencing stronger emotions in relation to the fact that she was about to be killed.  
  
How… How does she know that?  
  
It was just such a premonition.  
  
“System call. Generate luminous element. Burst element”.  
  
A supernova erupted and Aya felt her consciousness sinking into darkness.  
  


1586th

  
“Wait! Wait! I don't want to hurt you!”  
  
The little girl's hand froze for a moment, still blazing with dangerous flames.  
  
“Who are you? What do you need?”  
  
Aya sighed. The awkward feeling of something bad receded for a while and she was finally able to allow herself to relax. But not for long. The feeling of danger from this girl did not go anywhere and did not even think to weaken. Aya just dreamed of giving her nerves at least a little respite.  
  
**Which no one was going to give her.**  
  
“I… I don't know where I am. I just ended up in this wood and heard sounds. I never thought to spy on you!”  
  
Aya did not chatter, trying to speak sedately and calmly so as not to frighten off the deceptive calmness of the girl, **whom she had already watched almost two thousand times**.  
  
“Hmm,” the girl held out, dropping her hand. The fire on her fingers went out, and she stared at Ayu with a thoughtful and curious look. “So you are a child of Vector”.  
  
Aya didn't know who this Vector was, but her father's name was definitely not sound like that.  
  
“Well maybe? But, in my opinion, my dad was not called that…”  
  
The girl looked up at her.  
  
“What's your name?”  
  
“M-me? I… I am Aya. Asagiri Aya”.  
  
“Asagiri… Aya?.. You have quite strange name, child of Vector”.  
  
Aya pursed her lips, deciding to silently endure the obvious mockery.  
  
“So be it. Since you don't know what's going on here, I introduce myself to you. My name is Quinella”.  
  
She proudly placed her hand on her chest and tried to look down at her. Key word tried. Aya would have laughed at this childish attempt to look more mature, but the sense of danger did not go anywhere, and therefore she decided to wait.  
  
“Stay still, Asagiri Aya”.  
  
Quinella spoke and drew an S symbol right in front of Aya, poking her finger at her after finishing. A purple window immediately opened, in which there were numbers and Aya’s name.  
  
Since the window was mirrored, she could not figure out what the numbers were. And she didn't know English well, to be honest.  
  
Quinella's eyes widened and she put her hand to her parted lips.  
  
“How are you… Where… Where did you get such a great object control? Tell me now!”  
  
“I… I don’t…  
  
Managed only to utter it, but Quinella did not let her finish.  
  
“No, don't say anything. All of this is not important” her look became somewhat frightening and Aya really wanted to be far from here, from this place, from this frightening girl. “I increase my object control by killing foxes. It works, but not as efficiently.  
  
**_System call._**  
  
“What is the object contro…”  
  
“I told you to be silent!”  
  
Aya squeaked and instinctively covered herself with her hands, but the girl didn't seem to pay any attention to her.  
  
“If I kill you, then I will increase my object control much more. Perhaps on such a superior level”.  
  
Aya's eyes widened in response. What does she meant by ... kill? Will she really kill her? The sorceress backed away, but the crunch of a twig on the ground caught Quinella's attention.  
  
“System call! Generate luminous element! Burst element!”  
  
She rattled, as soon as Aya had time to take a step and the world plunged into darkness again.

2000th

“My name is Asagiri Aya, nice to meet you…”

3000th

  
“I don't know how did I got here. My name is… Asagiri Aya, what's your name?”  
  


4000th

  
“I Am Aya!”  
  


5000th

  
“I don't remember who I am, maybe you can help me?”  
  


6000th

  
The flash blinded her eyes and Aya felt herself falling into darkness. Why? Why did she do it?  
  
**It hurts so much.  
I'm so tired.  
Why do you keep killing me, over and over again?**  
  
In the slowly fading Asagiri Aya’s mind there were different shades. The black-and-scarlet tint of pain in her eyes from the magical explosion and burn, and the scarlet flame of frustration that was gaining on her after her not-so-long life.  
  
But the one thing that stood out the most. Those lilac, cold and very domineering eyes that looked at Aya as if she wasn't even an insect underfoot. As if she were a speck of dust that you wouldn't notice if you didn't look closely.  
  
Asagiri Aya did not know such an emotion. She recognized it when she met this girl. Meeting that gaze.  
  
**And then she died.  
Then again.  
And again.  
And more.**  
  


8578th

  
“System call! Generate... What are you?!..”  
  
Asagiri Aya, driven by a strange feeling, grabbed Quinella, **whose name she did not know yet** , and did not let her finish the spell, wrapping arms around her back and preventing her from moving it.  
  
“Believe me, I don't want to fight you! I don't want to threaten you! I literally don't know who you are!”  
  
Aya exclaimed, involuntarily burying her face in luxuriant lilac hair. She has as little chance of seeing it as of seeing her own ears. Very thick and delicate like flower petals, they even smelled like flowers. Something very familiar, but very indistinct.  
  
The idea of holding her physically and not letting kill herself, and the words, according to Aya and a very strange premonition, will definitely lead to death, came completely suddenly, spontaneously, incredibly, and caused as much surprise as joy that she had succeeded in her plan.  
  
Aya didn't make much effort to keep the girl from escaping, and that was good. She was probably just too young to be even as strong as the older girl.  
  
The fluttering of the bird in the closed cage did not last long. Quinella paused and sighed heavily. Turning her head slightly to the side, though she couldn't see it, she finally said:  
  
“Let me go already. I understand that you are not my enemy. Otherwise, you could have already kill me”.  
  
"There, I told you such a thing already!”  
  
Aya happily loosened her grip and Quinella shrugged irritably, causing Aya to feel a slight pang of guilt; perhaps her grip was too strong and the girl would have bruises…  
  
Aya closed her eyes for a very short time, lost in thought about what to do next, but it was enough to…  
  
“So what?”  
  
Opening her eyes, the girl looked at the young lady in front of her, whose gaze could not have belonged to a child.  
  
“So what?” she repeated, and Aya looked at her in disbelief. “What do you want? Wealth? Glory? Why do you need me?”  
  
She folded her arms across her chest and sniffed at the side of her face, as if she didn't even want to stand next to Aya.  
  
“I don't want anything from you, really," the girl said patiently. “I'm lost. This is my first time in this forest, I don't know where I am and I don't know where to go. Even… what kind of world I'm in, if you can put it that way”.  
  
The girl in front of her turned to her, looking a little surprised.  
  
"From another world, you say?..”  
  
She looked at her clothes (and Aya was still in her school uniform), at the bandage that was visible from under her skirt, which was tied around her wounded hip in battle, and then stopped again.  
  
What's wrong with my eyes?  
  
“Let's say I would believe you. And then what? What do you want?”  
  
For a moment, Aya was confused, then a little angry.  
  
“I don't know! I don't know what I want! I don't even know where I am. Quinella, believe me for once!”  
  
As soon as the last words came out of her pale lips, Aya covered her mouth with both hands and stared at the girl's narrowed eyes.  
  
She took a step forward, coming at arm's length of Aya. “Let's assume that your clothes are part of the culture of the country where you live. Let me assume that your ignorance is caused by your lack of communication with the aristocrats. Suppose all of this…”  
  
**This is a trap.  
Escape from her.  
Run as far as you can.  
Run.  
Run!  
RUN AWAY FROM HER!**  
  
“But there is one question” she began, her voice deceptively soft. “Then how do you know my name?”  
  
Before Aya could even blink, the outstretched finger stopped a couple of centimetres from her right eye. Her finger, was literally burning, it was so hot that the pain almost instantly brought tears to her eyes, and her eyelids burned with the sparks of burned lashes.  
  
“I don't trust you. I don't trust anyone in this world. System call. Generate luminous element…”  
  
“Please…” Aya whimpered through the tears that were evaporating from her cheeks.  
  
“Burst…”  
  
“NO!”  
  
“Element!”  
  


**_10087th_ **

  
The grass was soft and attractive. This was enough for Aya to sit up and lean her back against the tree trunk. Sun-warmed bark warmed the body pleasantly, saving her from the sharp wind.  
  
An unconscious feeling in her chest told Asagiri Aya that there was no point in trying to do anything.  
  
It was so strong that she dared not even contradict it. As if she knew what’s going to happen… What happens when she meets a girl named Quinella, whose name she doesn't know yet.  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
A sharp voice came from ahead, but Aya didn't answer it.  
  
**Nothing will change.  
All the same, it will be ended exactly the same as the last time.  
Like the last time.  
Like hundreds and thousands of times before.**  
  
“Answer me! Hey, I'm telling you!”  
  
Asagiri Aya looked up at the girl blankly and smiled her usual smile. She showed it to her brother and the girls at school who liked to bully her.  
  
“I don't even care what will you do to me. **Nothing more that you will do can surprise me, Quinella”.**  
  


**_10094th_ **

  
**“Nothing …”**  
  


**_11007th_ **

  
**“…more …”**  
  


**_11014th_ **

  
**“…that you …”**  
  


**_11028th_ **

  
**“…will do …”**  
  


**_11034th_ **

  
**“…can surprise …”**  
  


**_11058th_ **

  
**"... me…”**  
  


**_11099th_ **

  
**“…Quinella”.**  
“STOP IT!”

**_And the point of no return flared up on the horizon._ **

**__**

**_11187th_ **

  
The girl’s name was Quinella, that Asagiri Aya knew and understood. She was on her knees, shaking all over and holding her head with both hands.  
  
And Aya was standing nearby, barely peeking out from behind a thick tree that she was holding on to like a drowning man holding on to a straw.  
  
A million images flashed through her mind, none of which she could make out.  
  
Sacred art, but the software code.  
  
Living people, but artificial souls, in the shell of artificial bodies.  
  
Real digital souls, living inside a huge cluster. They will never be able to get out and realize the scale of the true world.  
  
And Aya didn't understand what meant it all, it just was images that didn't mean anything.  
  
But for Quinella… is it possible? She would never understand.  
  
This girl had killed her so many times. More than ten thousand. Was there anything to be offended about? There was.  
  
It would be possible to hate her for it? Sure.  
  
Was it worth?  
  
Aya didn't know.  
  
To hate someone. Pure, true hatred, to recall a wish for someone dead… Asagiri Aya was not capable of.  
  
**The only thing she could do…**  
  
She came out from behind the tree and stood at some distance from the girl, who was whimpering in pain. So small, barely ten years old, Aya thought. She had survived as long as the sorceress herself. If not more.  
  
Is it difficult to imagine the torment of a child who was surrounded by attention? Not much. Aya could understand why Quinella was acted like this, because no child would kill animals just because they wanted to.  
  
But Aya didn't consider herself an adult, so she could easily say that children are the cruellest creatures. How many of them could she remember? Take those around her for example.  
  
By all the logic of the situation, Aya should have killed Quinella. Just once. But she didn't.  
  
And there was only one answer.  
  
She. Was. Incapable. On this.  
  
People like Asagiri Aya are not uncommon. But they are not many of them.  
  
Unable to fight back, spineless and weak-willed, she was selfish in her own way. But she could also have the power to perform miracles. And no, it's not about the magic that was granted to her by the magical girl site, but something else…  
  
Aya knelt in front of the girl, touching her head with just a finger.  
  
“What else do you want from me? After all this time?..”  
  
“Nothing. I don't want anything from you, Quinella. Why have enemies when you can have friends?”  
  
And for the first time in the few hours that Asagiri Aya had been standing behind that tree, the girl named Quinella took her hands from her head and looked up at Aya, eyes red with tears.  
  
“Friends? Me? With you? I hate you all! What can I expect from people who only want to use mfhm…WHA?!..”  
  
She was interrupted. By a hug. As strong as a fourteen-year-old girl could do it.  
  
Quinella put her hands on Aya’s chest, trying to push her away, but the older girl won’t let her.  
  
“Hush… Hush… I'm here”.  
  
“What do you understa…”  
  
“I understand. Finally, I understand. I'm here for you. I may have come to your world in search of power, but after all this time, I finally realized that I don't need to find that power. I just have needed to find you. To help the only person who has had almost as hard time as I have.  
  
“I've had a pretty good life” Quinella said dully.  
  
“Yes, of course” Aya agreed, not doubting her words at all. “But what would it all lead to?”  
  
Before her questions could be answered, she added:  
  
“No, I don't foresee the future. Although one of my friends is capable of it. I just… I just feel that way. I thought so. I want to help you of my own free will. Even if you don't think you need help”.  
  
**While you haven’t killed somebody. For the very first time.**  
  
Aya felt like her dark school uniform was already drenched with girl’s tears. And slowly it became cooler. But she was ready to swear.  
  
To herself.  
  
And to that girl.  
  
“I'll never let you go. You can rely on me, Quinella”.  
  
And then her mind fell into darkness.  
  
  
... She didn't know how long she floated in this darkness, unaware of herself, her body, or the reality around her. Aya didn't know how much time had passed or she didn't know what to do or where to go.  
  
The only emotion she was aware of was excitement. Excitement and anxiety for the girl that she was supposed to hate, theoretically.  
  
The soul she was worried about. A soul that seemed to float nearby. So close that Aya could take her in her arms and hold her close. Aya did it as quickly as possible, worried that she would get scared in the pitch dark, not feeling her identity as such.  
  
But as soon as she did, the darkness blossomed.  
  
On the horizon, the point of no return flared up and the two souls became one.  
  
Aya felt a strong heat in her non-existent body, somewhere deep inside, where her soul should be. It was as if she had been ignited and burned to the ground only to be reborn.  
  
Both her soul and her body were burned. All completely without a trace, revealing only a crystal-clear cube, bright white to the point of pain in the eyes, the edges of which shimmered with an otherworldly light.  
  
This cube was Asagiri Aya.  
  
In this cube was the daughter of the Lord who owned the surrounding land, Quinella.  
  
Their very essence was united, closely and very tightly intertwined with each other, overgrown with unbroken, invisible chains that no one will ever be able to break.  
  
But this is how it should be.  
  
  
_Let it be, eh, sis?_  
  
  
And then she woke up.  
  
The child... or young women? ... felt very ambivalent. In her own body, but unusually small. With her usual hair, but long, flower-soft, and… still black.  
  
_Asagiri Aya_ felt herself from all sides, at least trying to understand what had happened to her. And where…  
  
Where did…  
  
“Quinella?” she cried, surprised and a little frightened. “Where are you? Where did you go?”  
  
And she barely noticed that an uncharacteristic irritation rose up inside her, which… which… **just couldn't be her emotion**.  
  
Aya got to her feet, listening to herself. Trying to look into her inner world, somewhere deeper, where should have been... should have been…  
  
“So that's where you are…” the girl murmured with a sad smile, putting her hands to her chest and bowing her head. She did not pay attention to the fact that all her clothes were gone. Aya just wasn't up to it right now.  
  
Right now, her attention was focused on the feelings that came from her very soul and the emotions that she would have to get used to.  
  
But let things take their course.  
  
Let Asagiri Aya remain in her world, and supported by her dear friends to save her world.  
  
But _Asagiri Aya_ will live in _this_ world and will come to the call as soon as the time will come. As soon as they need her.

**Author's Note:**

> co-author Ser Artorias added:  
> I would like to explain why such a crossover, why is Aya. In John's and my opinion, such a kind and forgiving character can turn events in a different, brighter direction. In the canon of the MSS, the girl has already shown what she is capable of in her actions, and she also can do it here. A girl who gives all of herself in the name of making her family and friends happy. The one who can make you love her not by self-serving use of force, but by honest work and attitude to people.
> 
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
> 
> Hello! My name is John and I'm glad to present you my first translated work. I'm an author and a translator from english. It has started with one simple thought to let people see my works. And I just: WHY NOT?  
> So here I am.  
> Meet my co-author Ser Artorias.  
> and my beta-reader Mein lieblings Spitz.
> 
> Also it will be great help if you send me feedback with your opinion to the text itself, and also... Mistakes, so-o-o-o-o-o-o... Nice to meet you!  
> Last


End file.
